POCA – Conspiracy to produce and supply drugs of Class B

Defendant was charged and pleaded guilty to offences of conspiracy to produce and supply drugs of Class B, and possession of criminal property, namely cash in excess of £11k which was seized at time of arrest. Defendant was sentenced to 31 months and is now subject of confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. Crown had calculated Benefit to be c.£228k and Available Amount to be £25k. The majority of Benefit related to unidentified credits through the defendant’s bank accounts totalling £208k. Defendant asserted that the unidentified credits related to payments/loans from friends and family and earnings from various employment (not declared for income tax purposes!). We were asked to assess both the Benefit and Available Amount.